Marin Shakespeare’s new production of The Comedy of Errors hits the nail on the head.
Adapted and directed by Michael Gene Sullivan, this production addresses the ethical dilemmas of where women fit into the traditionally male-oriented canon while presenting an excellent production of the play. It runs at the Forest Meadows Amphitheatre at Dominican University through September 15.
Sullivan wisely steers clear of the controversial and commonplace practice of inserting his own verse into the Bard’s. Instead, he cleverly uses the framework of Elizabethan theater to comment not only on Elizabethan theater but also on how women (often in the public eye) are still seen.
In a day and age where artists like Chappell Roan have to ask repeatedly to be given the simple dignity of not being touched without their permission, it seems that we have fallen back into the attitude that women in the public eye are “all notorious impudent, prostituted Strumpets” as William Prynne writes in completely unhinged anti-theater tirade Histriomastix. If you don’t know the Histriomastix, don’t worry. Sullivan gives you all you need to know about it by setting the play as an anti-Prynne protest by women in a cooperage.
While the adaptation and the directing were razor-sharp, sadly, the acting was not. Sometimes a cast doesn’t sync and, in a comedy, that will kill the momentum faster than anything.
Illness put this show behind schedule, which could explain some issues with the cast not being in step. But by the second weekend, at least one actor seemed to be reaching for every word, and all the choreography seemed to be happening in slow motion. That it was an Equity actor creating such odd tension on stage suggests that maybe the odd timing was part of the comedy, and the joke just missed its mark. If so, it’s a baffling choice for an otherwise cleanly directed play.
That’s not to say that there weren’t some great moments. Emily Cummings, Asha Bagal Kelly, and Elizabeth Jones displayed an innate sense of comedy that made them stand out even in the small moments. Kelly’s different walks depending on her character’s mood (especially trying to walk to the stairs while drunk), Jones’s singing abbess, and Cummings’ hilarious “puppetry” managing to be both self-aware and yet wholly committed are examples of how supporting characters can steal the show.
The production team was also good. Set Designer Nina Ball created the inside of a sixteenth-century workshop, which is also a functional set. Tammy Berlin’s costumes were well designed for the many tasks they were asked to do, and there hasn’t been such a talented broom on stage since Fantasia.
In the end, yes, the timing was off. But the night I saw it, three young children were behind me. They laughed. They gasped. They applauded of their own volition and didn’t need to know anything else but that it was a good time. So, set academia and cynicism aside. Remember that it’s a comedy. All it has to do is make you laugh. It will.
‘The Comedy of Errors’ runs Thurs – Sun through September 15 at the Forest Meadows Amphitheatre at Dominican University of California, 890 Belle Ave., San Rafael. Thurs – Sat, 7:30 pm; Sun, 5 pm. $15-$40. 415.388.5208. marinshakespeare.org
